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It takes about 400 milliseconds to "see" a logo. During that time, a lot happens as you make sense of what you see and put it all in context. Here's a look at how you do that. Plus, some interesting facts about how logos impact human behavior. • Did you know we think about logos and brands the same way we think about friends? • Did you know a logo can make you more creative? • Did you know logos and brands help us determine who we are? Here's the latest research from brain scientists about how our brains "see" logos.
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How
Your Brain“Sees” a Logo
Logos play an important emotional role in influencing decision making, especially when information or time is limited. Neuroscientists have been studying how the brain perceives and recognizes a logo design, and how it impacts decision-making.Here is some of what they have learned.
When you see a logo your eye sends a signal along the FusiformGyrus to the Primary Visual Cortexwhere it first perceives color, thenidentifies the shape and form of thelogo design.
What Happens When You See a Logo
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“Red on white. Dot in a Circle. Bullseye.”
“Tapered shape moving upward left to right.”
“Yellow curves Red box.”
1. You First Identify the Color
These elements are then“grouped” to identify the object thatyou see. This happens in the V2 areaof the Visual Cortex.
What Happens When You See a Logo
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“That’s a red target.”
“That’s a swoosh.”
“Golden Arches. M.”
2. You Recognize Shape and Size
Next your brain matchesthat visual pattern to previousexperiences with the same patternstored in your memory. This happens in the Amygdala and Prefrontal Cortex.
What Happens When You See a Logo
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“Target Logo. Target Store.”
“Nike.” “McDonald’s. Hamburgers.”
3. You Match Previous Experiences
Last your brain adds “semantic attributes” from yourprevious experiences with the logo,like the product name as well as your preferences, to provide meaning and recognition.
What Happens When You See a Logo
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“Quality. Value. I need to pick up some milk.”
“Just do it. Air Jordan. Shoes.”
“It’s lunchtime. I’m hungry. Fries sound good.”
4. You Add Semantic Information
The whole process takes just less than 400 milliseconds.
How Long Does It Take?
Scientists believe that your eye doesn’t see color at all—your brain creates it through neural processes that take place along the Fusiform Gyrus, the Hippocampus, and the Primary Visual Cortex located at the back of the brain.1,2
What You See—Color
Once the color is identified,a signal is sent forward to the “what pathway” near the front of the Visual Cortex where shape and objects are recognized. It can even see shapes that aren’t there (like objects hidden in the negative space of a logo).3
What You See—Shape
What You See—Negative Space
Fedex logo designed by Lindon Leader/Landor. Snooty Peacock logo by Ryan Russell. Shift logo by Brian Plemons.
The arrow, peacock, and H aren’t there, but that doesn’t stop your brain from “seeing” them.
Context and meaning is added by your memory to help you understand and think about what it all means. This process uses many parts of the brain, but primarily the Amygdala and Orbitofrontal Cortex where emotions and rewards are processed.
What You See—Meaning
Over the past two decades,neuroscientists have used brain imaging (fMRI) to take a closer look at how we think about logos. Here are some of the most interesting findings…
How Logos Affect Your Thinking
Sports and luxury logos (like Nike and Mercedes) trigger responses in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex, while value brands (like Walmart) activate neurons in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex.4
Different Logos, Different Triggers
Brands that we like elicit activity in the Ventral Medial Frontal
Pole, which is the area where we
form self esteem and the idea of who we are.
Logos Influence Who We Think We Are
This would suggest that our favorite brands play a large role in how we think about ourselves.5
Something like: “I’m a Coke person.” Or, “I’m the kind of person who likes Apple products.”
Logos Influence Who We Think We Are
Our familiarity with a logo determines which part of the brain thinks about it. Familiar brands trigger activity in the parts of the brain associated with positive emotions and rewards (Pallidum, Posterior Cingulate, and Frontal Cortex).
Familiar Logos = Positive Triggers
Unknown logos activateneurons in areas of the brain associated with negative emotions (Insula). This suggests that we use experience not declarative information to evaluate the brands we encounter.6
Unfamiliar Logos = Negative Triggers
We do not think about logosthe same way we think about trivial objects or even animals. Well-liked brands trigger responses in the same brain areas where human relationships (friendships for example) are processed.
We Process Brands Like Relationships
This may mean that, biologically speaking, there is very little difference between relationships among two human beings and the relationship between you and your favorite brands.7
Does this bother you?
Are Brands Your Friends?
Logos can actually change behavior. When scientists showed an Apple logo (subliminally) to some students, and an IBM logo to others, the students that saw the Apple logo performed better on a creativity test.
Logos Can Change Behavior
To confirm the results,another group of students was shown a Disney logo or an E! TV logo. Those who saw the Disney logo performed better on a test that measured honesty.8
It appears logos can change behavior.
Logos Can Change Behavior
When processing the complex information that makes up a logo, we use virtually every “brain system” from color and object identification to memory and high-level emotional processing.
Here’s where it happens…
Where The Brain “Thinks” about Logos
To learn more about how alogo works, what makes a goodlogo, or to create your own logo design,check out the blog and logo maker tool at:
www.logomaker.com
Want to Learn More about Logos?
Logomaker is an easy-to-use online logo design tool used by more than 1 million small business owners to create their own logo. You can learn more by clicking the link above.
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bit.ly/brainlogo
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Logomaker is an easy-to-use online logo design tool used by more than 1 million small business owners to create their own logo. You can learn more by clicking the link above.
Notes:1 “Study Shows that Color Plays Musical Chairs in the Brain”, UChicagoNews, October 2, 2009. 2 Zeki, S. and Ludovica, Marina, “Three Cortical Stages of Colour Processing in the Human Brain”, Brain, Vol 121, pp. 1669-1685, 1998.3 Sanguinetti, Joseph, et al, “The Ground Side of an Object: Perceived as Shapeless yet Processed for Semantics”, Psychological Science, November 12, 2013. 4 Schaefer, Michael and Rotte, Michael, “Thinking on Luxury or Pragmatic Brand Products: Brain Reponses to Different Categories of Culturally Based Brands”, Brain Research, Vol. 1165, Aug. 24, 2007, pp, 98-104.5 Journal of Customer Behaviour, Volume 11, Number 1, Spring 2012, pp. 69-93(25)6 Esch, Franz-Rudolf, “Brands on the Brain: Do Consumers Use Declarative Information or Experienced Emotions to Evaluate Brands?” Journal of Consumer Psychology, Vol. 22.1, Jan. 2012, pp. 75-85.7 Santos, José Paulo, “Perceiving Brands After Logo Perception: An Event-related fMRI Study” Online: bit.ly/1usO5ue 8 Fitzsimons, Grainne, et all, “Automatic Effects of Brand Exposure on Motivated Behavior: How Apple Makes You ‘Think Different’”, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 35, June 2008, pp. 21-35.
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